Railroad crossing with renewable centers



May 29, 1923. Y

W. G. NICHOLS RAILRCSAD CFOSSING- WITH RENEWABLECENTERS Filed Sent; 10

1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g- 11) a: a %ae2mm Hum, 45? Z/fugh v May 29, 1923. 1,456, 57

w. s. NICHOLS RAILROAD CROSSING WITH RENEWABLE CENTERS Filed Sept. 10, 192-1 2 ShecsSheet 2 2'2 G. M08018, 0! CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB 1'0 1 1 me arm comm, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 01' can 1 u=- WITH ABLE GENT Application fled September 10, 1921. Serial No. 488,782.

ToaZZ wkomitmay concern:

' Be it known that I, Wnsnar G. Iflrcnons, a citizen of the United States, resldmg at Chicago Heights, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certam new and useful Improvements in Railroad; Crossings with Renewable Centers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to castmanganese railway crossings and has particular reference to a novel construction at the crossings, intersections or points of railwa s which facilitates the reduction and pro ongs the usefulnes of t e structure by simplifying. and insuring successful heat treatment of the crossing members, and avoiding the developments of cracks at the intersections thereof.

Practically all the major failures of cast metal crossings occur at the intersections and are due to cracks developing in the flangeways or to the ounding down of the points. Cracking o the flangeways has heretofore been eliminated to a material extent by increasing the metal under the intersections but this has worked against proper heat treatment, especially in manganese steel croesin Furthermore, by employing heavier castmgs the shrinkage of the castings becomes more noticeable and harmful. Another objection to increasing the'metal under the intersections is that it reduces resiliency at the points, and induces rapid pounding down of the points or cracking of the fiangeways.

My invention, while preferably embodied in a crossing made in a single casting, is also applicable when desirable, to crossings made 1n two or more sections, suitably secured together. It consistsrimarily in forming the cast crossing mem ers, at their crossingpoints, with recesses, and manganese steel inserts in these recesses. Preferably the overall dimensions of the inserts are made slightly less than the corresponding dimenm'ons of the to provide clearance for slight irregularities in the cored recesses and also in the inserts themselves.

In addition to increasing the life of the crosing and at the same time simplifying and improving the manufacture of the e, the present invention provides railroad crossings having removable crossing oints whlch are supported on a resilient bid for absorbing shocks incident to traflic. he V8.l10l1s novel features of my invent1on w1ll be apparent from the following specification and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Flgure 1 1s a top plan view of a railroad crossing constructed in accordance with my invention, and made in a single casting;

Figure 2 isa plan view showing the preferred construction of removable crossing po1n t insert;

-F1gure 3 is a vertical section taken on l1ne 33 of Figure 2; and

F lgure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

In the preferred embodiment illumrated in the drawings in which the cross is made as a single casting, comprising our intersections A, B, C and D, these intersectrons are shown as being at 90, although this is not essential as any angular-it desrrable ma be used. This prefe embpdiment. rther comprises splicing exten- 810115 5, adapted to be bolted to and co-operate with track rails (not shown). The upper portlon of the casting is formed with the usual rooves 6 for the wheel flanges and the tree portions 7 for supporting the threads of t e wheels and for ing continuations of the track rails.

Further referring to the bod1ment, in casting the crosslng, cavities 8 are formed by cores in the usual manner, and with such dimensions as to include the area of the crossing points. As formed, a

distance as may be observed by reference to Figure 3 .of the drawings, and has a bottom 9, and sidewalls that are vertical. Inserts or blocks 10 are castwhich in overall horizontal dimensions are sli htly less than the corresponding overall imensions of the cavities, but which otherwise substantially fill the cavities and restore continuity of the wheel receiving surfaces The several sectors of the cavities and inserts are made symmetrical so that by partial rotation of an insert after excessive wear has developed preferred em- 1 cavity extends downwardly for considerable on a set of rail receiving faces, in a given be presented to position, another set may to 1 avmg rep ace that position instead of the inserts.

On the bottom 9 of that portion of the crossing member forming the lower part of a cavity 8, I place a series of steel plates 9 on which rests the insert 10. These plates serve two purposes. In the first place they develop a degree of vertical resiliency in the support of the crossing member which greatly relieves it from the hammering shocks of pass ing wheels; and in the second place they serve as shims for accurately determining the level at which the wearing surface of the crossing member is supported, and by the addition of a plate or plates as the wear on the upper surfaces roceeds, said plates afl'ord means for keeping the crossing member at the proper level to avoid hammering. For securing the inserts in position, they are provided with recesses 10 in portions thereof that lie opposed tothe fillets 11 between the rail stubs 12; and into the bolt openings 13 and 14, formed respectively through the corner walls 10 of the recesses and throu h the fillets 11 of the crossing rails, are Toosely fitted bolts 15 or similar securing means. In order that bolts 15 may be introduced from the outside, their shanks 16 are made of angular section and tapered as shown, and seated between the filling wedges 17, and the lower walls of the bolt openings 13 and 14. An advantage 0? this method of securing the insert is that it leaves a solid sustaining foot 19 beneath the intersection of the treads and the flange grooves of the insert, as well as sustainin walls 19 radiating from said foot in vertical planes of the trackage over the insert, all of. which, with the perimeter walls, rest upon the bottom support provided for the insert. Such a construction prevents bodily displacement of the inserts when once in position. The plates 9 form a spring or resilient bed for the inserts so that as trafic passes over the inserts pounding is transmitted to the spring plates and absorbed, thereby eliminating reakage and unevenness at the crossing points, which is the main cause of destruction of crossing members, especially those made of cast metal.

In the solid type of crossing, especially where manganese steel is used, experience has shown that heat treatment of the solid crossing has been far from uniform as some of the sections were heavy and some light, and this resulted in cracks develo ing in the flangeways. The construction of my cross-' ingmakes possible the successful employment of manganese steel for this work since 'by providing cavities to receive the inserts and box like or hollow construction for the under portion of the crossing members successful heat treatment is possible, and by subjecting the whole crossing member to the *with trackage direc proper heat treatment, it is possible to eliminate imperfections in the castings.

even crossing points the insert castings may be turned to present the unused tread surfaces 21 to such positions. The inserts may be turned as may times as desired until all of the tread surfaces are worn to such an extent as to require replacement of the insert.

It may be observed that my invention includes means for positively retaining the inserts-in position in the crossing member in such manner that no displacement thereof will occur. the bolts 15 and openings 13 in the inserts, vertical movement of the inserts in the crossing member permitted by the cushioning action of plates 9 may take place without shearing the bolts.

While 1 have described more or less precisely the details of the preferred construction of m invention, I do not wish to be understoo as limiting myself thereto, as l contemplate changes in form and in proportions of parts and substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

1 claim:

1. A railway crossing member constructed with trackage directed toward a point of intersection and having around such point, a center-piece cavit providing a bottom support, and in sai cavity and resting on sa1d bottom support, an insertpiece carrying upon its upper surface the intersecting por tions of the trackage, and upon its lower side a central supporting foot beneath the said intersecting portions, sustaining walls radiating from said foot and perimeter walls joinin saidradial walls; all of said walls, and said foot being extended downwardly to andrestin upon the bottom support.

2. A rai way crossin member constructed toward a point of intersection and having around such point, a center-piece cavity, providing a bottom support, and in sai cavity and resting on sa1d bottom support, an insert piece carrying upon its upper surface the intersecting portions of the trackage, and upon its lower side a central supporting foot beneath the saidintersecting portions, sustaining walls radiating from said foot and erimeter walls joining said radialwalls; a l of said By leaving c earance between recess? walls, and said foot being extended downwardly to and resting upon the bottom support; said bottom support comprising a resilient pile of thin p ates a 3. A railway crossing member constructed with trackagc directed toward a pointy of intersection and having around such point, a center-piece cavit providin a bottom support, and in sai cavity an resting on said bottom support, an insert piece carrying upon its upper surface the intersecting portions of the trackage, and upon its lower side a central supporting foot beneath the said intersecting portions, sustaining walls radieting from said foot and perimeter walls joining said radial walls; said cavity having a wall adjacent a, perimeter Welland means being provided to resist displacement of the center-piece comprising a bolt introduced 20 from the exterior inwardly through said and resistin wit drawal of the bolt and displacing it ownward.

A d. A track crossing member formed with a cavity at the crin point, an insert in said cavity, and a resi ient support in said cavity for said insert, comprising a plurality of m: If plates.

5. n a railway crossing, in combination with intersecting lines of track, a block constructed to form continuations of said lines of track at the oint of intersection, and releasably secured at sash intersection, and a plurality ted S1 ed at Chicjgo Heights, Illinois, this a of Septernr, i921.

WESLEY e. NICHOLS,

of relatively thin I beneath said block. 

